Synopsis
In the beginning Chapter 5 of Colors of the Mountain, Da’s teacher, Teacher Lan, visits Da home to give him his results from the first countywide exam. Da finds out the he scored 100% in all four subjects, and only one person got the same score. Later in the chapter, Da goes to visit his cousin Yan for the New Year. Yan lives on a small island, ten miles off mainland, called Milon. He there learns how to fish with one of his new friends Monkey, and how different it is living on an island than the city. He also learns that all the local children are named after animals or objects that the father sees first after the child is born, and then the children change their names once they get married.
Themes
The main theme in Chapter 5 is friendship. Da meets new friends ina place that he has never been to before.
Language/Style
Metaphor: “Yellow wildflowers were scattered across the green carpet like solitary souls still searching for their destiny.” (43)
Metaphor: “The vastness of the sea made me feel small and flimsy like a blade of grass in the wind.” (45)
Narrator
The narrator in this chapter is Da.
Key Quotes
“I felt glorified. I was no longer just another one of those hopeless descendants of the ruling class, who ended up becoming a carpenter, a blacksmith, or a nobody, buried in the guilt and shame of their fathers. I shone, despite their efforts to snuff me out.” (43)
“None of the local children has a real name until they get to marriageable age, about fifteen. Then they are given one. Before that, they were named after animals or objects.” (46)
“I want my son to grow up like you, to be a great student and maybe have a future so he could leave this little island and find a decent job. My life is over. All my hope rests with my sons now.” (50)
“You city folk care about manners and all that stuff. We don’t burden ourselves with any of that here in the middle of the ocean.” (51)
“I wished I could have brought them home with me and let them be my friends forever.” (52)
Chapter 5
By: Mia Bedford
Synopsis
In the beginning Chapter 5 of Colors of the Mountain, Da’s teacher, Teacher Lan, visits Da home to give him his results from the first countywide exam. Da finds out the he scored 100% in all four subjects, and only one person got the same score. Later in the chapter, Da goes to visit his cousin Yan for the New Year. Yan lives on a small island, ten miles off mainland, called Milon. He there learns how to fish with one of his new friends Monkey, and how different it is living on an island than the city. He also learns that all the local children are named after animals or objects that the father sees first after the child is born, and then the children change their names once they get married.
Themes
The main theme in Chapter 5 is friendship. Da meets new friends ina place that he has never been to before.
Language/Style
Metaphor: “Yellow wildflowers were scattered across the green carpet like solitary souls still searching for their destiny.” (43)
Metaphor: “The vastness of the sea made me feel small and flimsy like a blade of grass in the wind.” (45)
Narrator
The narrator in this chapter is Da.
Key Quotes
“I felt glorified. I was no longer just another one of those hopeless descendants of the ruling class, who ended up becoming a carpenter, a blacksmith, or a nobody, buried in the guilt and shame of their fathers. I shone, despite their efforts to snuff me out.” (43)
“None of the local children has a real name until they get to marriageable age, about fifteen. Then they are given one. Before that, they were named after animals or objects.” (46)
“I want my son to grow up like you, to be a great student and maybe have a future so he could leave this little island and find a decent job. My life is over. All my hope rests with my sons now.” (50)
“You city folk care about manners and all that stuff. We don’t burden ourselves with any of that here in the middle of the ocean.” (51)
“I wished I could have brought them home with me and let them be my friends forever.” (52)
Picture